To shut all lies that soccer isn't true football (facts)

[facepie]

we need to see the top nfl team play the top rugby team in both their games. id pay mad cash to see that

that would be good, though it would have to be something like wrestling or boxing rather then NFL or Rugby, because rugby would dominate NFL in rugby and vise versa as their not use to the rules tactics and etc

[Wolf359]

I don't agree - you have to realise that they are now completely different games - and the tackling in US Football is significantly different, and more vicious.

how is it done differently?

the aim of a tackle is to bring someone down to the ground so... ??

Yes, the aim is the same, but how and when the tackles are conducted are significantly different - as is off the ball tackling. In Rugby you are not allowed to tackle as high as what US footballers are - or with as many parts of your own body. You really need to watch it closely, or to have played both games (which I have - a lot) to understand it, but simply, you are not allowed to tackle in rugby as viciously as you are in US Football - diving into an opponents back head first for example.

There are a lot of good videos on YouTube showing how hard/vicious tackling in US Football can be - this is a good one for starters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PpXXnpnk-c

Interestingly, it shows a few Football (Soccer) 'tackles' (a term I use loosely) at the start as contrast, and while I love Football (Soccer) more than I do US Football, I hate the way that many players in the game try to con the referee and act like a bunch of pansies!

football is the real one peeps. american football is jus a bunch of dudes, putting on a bunch of armour to play rugby

i think the breaks in american football are made as they are solely for advertising. basing a sport around adverts sucks royally.

we need to see the top nfl team play the top rugby team in both their games. id pay mad cash to see that

Yes, Football (Soccer) is the original - but your first comment does nothing except show your apparent ignorance of the US game - it bears little resemblance to rugby, and hasn't done for 100 hundred years.

You are correct about the breaks though! When the US last held the Football World Cup, we heard all of these horror stories about how they wanted to create more advertising time - and so the US organisers supposedly put forward a suggestion for four 22.5 minute quarters. There was, allegedly, even a suggestion from the US organisers to create scoring zones so that goals would count for different points from different areas of the pitch!

[Demeisen]

Yes, the aim is the same, but how and when the tackles are conducted are significantly different - as is off the ball tackling. In Rugby you are not allowed to tackle as high as what US footballers are - or with as many parts of your own body. You really need to watch it closely, or to have played both games (which I have - a lot) to understand it, but simply, you are not allowed to tackle in rugby as viciously as you are in US Football - diving into an opponents back head first for example.

the rules in rugby are there as they do not wear a ridiculous amount of armour, including a helmet. if they did american football tackles in rugby people would die.

There are a lot of good videos on YouTube showing how hard/vicious tackling in US Football can be - this is a good one for starters

that video shows some hardcore tackles, and led me to a clip of a naked dude getting taken out while streaking lol. definitely pro american football though. the football 'dives' shown are done by cheaters. note how infrequently such dives are done by english players. its mostly players from the continent that fall down every time theres a slight breeze

I hate the way that many players in the game try to con the referee and act like a bunch of pansies!

same here grrrrr

Yes, Football (Soccer) is the original - but your first comment does nothing except show your apparent ignorance of the US game - it bears little resemblance to rugby, and hasn't done for 100 hundred years.

both are full contact sports yet in one the players don tanks while the others use shirts and the magic sponge.

nfl is far too commercialized. rugby is much more genuine, traditional and true to itself. it hasnt totally changed to help its sponsers bombard viewers with adverts.

personally i i despise the stopping and starting of american football. i like the fact the football is more continuous.

[facepie]

bah with all these sports, you'd only like them depending on the area you grow up in =P for example here in Australia, i'm Victorian and grew up watching Aussie Rules Footy and i love it, if you grew up slightly north in New South Wales, you'd love Rugby >.<

[Demeisen]

aussie football is good. a healthy blend. far better than american football. im a football, rugby, cricket fan (although i mainly watch key matches/highlights). love UFC/boxing?cage rage as well

[Wolf359]

Yes, the aim is the same, but how and when the tackles are conducted are significantly different - as is off the ball tackling. In Rugby you are not allowed to tackle as high as what US footballers are - or with as many parts of your own body. You really need to watch it closely, or to have played both games (which I have - a lot) to understand it, but simply, you are not allowed to tackle in rugby as viciously as you are in US Football - diving into an opponents back head first for example.

the rules in rugby are there as they do not wear a ridiculous amount of armour, including a helmet. if they did american football tackles in rugby people would die.

My point exactly, and thus the reason why American Footballers AREN'T 'sissys' for wearing all that protection!

I must also point out, again, that it is also quite common these days to see professional rugby players wearing padding under, or built into, their shirts.

You are right - NFL, like the majority of American sport, is over-commercialised! But at the same time I like the way that their sports, such as US Football, are also a great family day out, where shows are put on at half time and prior to and after the game etc, and there's always something going on on the sidelines. The supporters are also generally better behaved than what 'real' football supporters are - which is what makes it a good family day out.

[Demeisen]

oh no. american football players are sissy. if they played rugby they would cry. their armour protects them. id much rather play (from a safety perspective) us football.

I must also point out, again, that it is also quite common these days to see professional rugby players wearing padding under, or built into, their shirts

i think the amount they can wear is limited. most dont wear the maximum allowed.

i can imagine its entertaining for the kids. but tbh if i go to a game i want to see the sport, not brass bands, clowns and american commercial nonsense. although the cheerleaders can stay. that american tradition i can accept, even if it pains me to do so

[facepie]

Yes, the aim is the same, but how and when the tackles are conducted are significantly different - as is off the ball tackling. In Rugby you are not allowed to tackle as high as what US footballers are - or with as many parts of your own body. You really need to watch it closely, or to have played both games (which I have - a lot) to understand it, but simply, you are not allowed to tackle in rugby as viciously as you are in US Football - diving into an opponents back head first for example.

the rules in rugby are there as they do not wear a ridiculous amount of armour, including a helmet. if they did american football tackles in rugby people would die.

You are right - NFL, like the majority of American sport, is over-commercialised! But at the same time I like the way that their sports, such as US Football, are also a great family day out, where shows are put on at half time and prior to and after the game etc, and there's always something going on on the sidelines. The supporters are also generally better behaved than what 'real' football supporters are - which is what makes it a good family day out.

as feral as "real" football supporters are, if played at a neutral ground, the atmosphere is really amazing, two sides of people screaming, standing up for 90 minutes chanting on their teams, the close misses, where you practically share emotions with each person next to you

to me thats the most... uhh special, and possibly unique thing about sport is that you can share emotions with so many people whom you don't even know because of a simple game, at least to me it is, it's a good moment, but the atmosphere of a game halved by 2 opposing sides, there wouldn't be many other situations where you can get the same electric, tense atmosphere

[xXxsephirothxXx]

*gets poked in eye.... Falls down and holds shin* REF PENALTY...!!!
Case closed... soccer is for whimps, they should go back to their acting classes which btw reminds me of one of thise soccer adds ages ago

NFL is pretty good, as padded up and all as you are... nothing really saves you when your momentum is going one way and the hit part of your body is going the other.... im sure they arnt sissy's, and as for rugby, it isnt that bad i have played it and im sure a NFL player could easily adjust to the hits.

The worst thing that can happen in soccer, is a nice kick in the nads or a collision with the knee... both of these which can happen in NFL and rugby... + worse.

P.S all the soccer teams do it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxEBFfEwipA

[Wolf359]

Continental European players are the worst for it though - I mean, I'm a Man Utd fan but I cower in shame when I see Ronaldo diving about all over the place! He's not as bad as he was - but he's still pretty bad. Nani also seems to have a tendency to replicate the antics of his Portuguese team-mate!

Have to say that English/rest of the UK players don't tend to do it - can't recall the last time I saw Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard (even though he's useless), Michael Carrick, Jamie Carragher or Wayne Rooney dive or go down like a sack of spuds on a weak tackle.

[semper]

Im sorry, I read the title and just saw "pufters on a pitch supporters please read to defend your anti masculine sport."

The saying that rugby and american football are fast becoming a similar affair too. Helmets, shoulder pads, shin pads, kicking every twenty seconds...bah..

[facepie]

The saying that rugby and american football are fast becoming a similar affair too. Helmets, shoulder pads, shin pads, kicking every twenty seconds...bah..

pfft helmets in Rugby are way different their more just like padding, if rugby players had the option to wear helmets they'd be dead, imagine the scrums >.<

hehe GO Australian Rules Footy!

[Samil]

I think this topic has wavered slightly. As an Brit and life long Liverpool fan I would say the football played in the premiership is true football but only in the sense that it is actually played with the feet and not mostly your hands.

But having playing American footbal it is by no means weak to wear protective gear. As wolf said the tackling is way different, but remember the rules are very different.

Can you imagine if Phil Vickery or Johnny Wilkinson had to try to play NFL in the protective gear? They way they are trained for speed and mobility would be useless, just the same if you took a 200lb American football player and asked him to play rugby. He could not do it as he is not trained for it.

The one thing that makes football stand out is the fans. If you have been to Anfield, Old Trafford or one of the other top clubs on match day and heard the noise and felt the atmosphere you will know what I mean, you get goose bumps, you sing until you are hoarse, you groan at every miss, you chant to the opposing fans and have a great time. I have been to both rugby matches and American football matches and it is very different. I had a work colleague over from New York and took him to Anfield on matchday and he admited that although he did not follow the whole game the atmosphere was like nothing he had ever experienced.

As I said the main difference is only in the wording but one thing to remember, footbal was for the working classes and rugby was for the upper classes (the main reason why it was played at Oxford, Cambridge, Eaton and others) and as such supporters of each sport did not get on. Now you have American football which uses the wording 'football' but playing in a similar way (e.g. with hands) as rugby and you will find that football fans will defend their sport saying it is the true football.

[jonasholmborg]

I think this topic has wavered slightly. As an Brit and life long Liverpool fan I would say the football played in the premiership is true football but only in the sense that it is actually played with the feet and not mostly your hands.

But having playing American footbal it is by no means weak to wear protective gear. As wolf said the tackling is way different, but remember the rules are very different.

Can you imagine if Phil Vickery or Johnny Wilkinson had to try to play NFL in the protective gear? They way they are trained for speed and mobility would be useless, just the same if you took a 200lb American football player and asked him to play rugby. He could not do it as he is not trained for it.

The one thing that makes football stand out is the fans. If you have been to Anfield, Old Trafford or one of the other top clubs on match day and heard the noise and felt the atmosphere you will know what I mean, you get goose bumps, you sing until you are hoarse, you groan at every miss, you chant to the opposing fans and have a great time. I have been to both rugby matches and American football matches and it is very different. I had a work colleague over from New York and took him to Anfield on matchday and he admited that although he did not follow the whole game the atmosphere was like nothing he had ever experienced.

As I said the main difference is only in the wording but one thing to remember, footbal was for the working classes and rugby was for the upper classes (the main reason why it was played at Oxford, Cambridge, Eaton and others) and as such supporters of each sport did not get on. Now you have American football which uses the wording 'football' but playing in a similar way (e.g. with hands) as rugby and you will find that football fans will defend their sport saying it is the true football.

Well said, wise word from a fellow Liverpool-fan. The Americans and the Aussies could have used their imaginations a bit more and come up with different names for their sports.

[Apadamek]

oh no. american football players are sissy. if they played rugby they would cry. their armour protects them. id much rather play (from a safety perspective) us football.

I must also point out, again, that it is also quite common these days to see professional rugby players wearing padding under, or built into, their shirts

i think the amount they can wear is limited. most dont wear the maximum allowed.

i can imagine its entertaining for the kids. but tbh if i go to a game i want to see the sport, not brass bands, clowns and american commercial nonsense. although the cheerleaders can stay. that american tradition i can accept, even if it pains me to do so

hahahahaha. You call american football over commercialized when soccer teams wear their sponsors on their JERSEYS. Right there, all the time, all the game. When is the last NFL team you saw with a pepsi logo on their jerseys.

If you look at the average american football player, over 6 feet hell over 6ft 3, over 200lb's you can easily say they could destroy any rugby players, in strength and in many cases speed.

Also, despite being "Tanks" american football players break arms, legs, shoulders, knee's, any bone in their body almost.

And in regards to stadium atmosphere i suggest you go to Lambeu field and see a packer game or a raiders game, that is atmosphere. Every single seat at every single game is sold out for the Packers.